Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Roe v Wade

I enjoyed Mr. Doggett's presentation on Roe v Wade because I was able to more clearly understand what this case was really about. In past classes that I have had, we did not go into much detail about the issue. In the case of Roe v Wade which occurred in 1970, a women by the name of Norma McCorvey was pregnant numerous times, before entering the Supreme Court and claiming that she was ganged raped, causing the pregnancy of her fourth child. During her first pregnancy, she got married and 6 months later, discovered that she was pregnant. This marriage did not work out for her because of her abusive husband, so she left and went home to Texas, where she then got pregnant again. In Texas, she was working at a lesbian bar, when her mother took her two children away from her because she did not agree with the lifestyle she was living. After this, she later gets pregnant again, leaving the baby with the father and joining a traveling circus. Lastly, she is pregnant a fourth time and decides that she does not want the baby, so she finds two lawyers and proclaims that she was gang raped and wants to have an abortion.

Unfortunately for Norma, the state of Texas has a law stating that a women must not get an abortion unless it will save the life of the mother, which in her case, did not justify her reasoning for wanting the abortion. By the time the case goes through the Supreme Court, it has taken three years and is irrelevant at this time.

During Mr. Doggett’s presentation, he gave us examples of things women would do to themselves in attempts to kill the fetus living inside them. They would commit acts such as drinking, throwing themselves down stairs, punching themselves in the stomach etc. that in hopes would get rid of the baby. These women would commit such acts on themselves that would cause pain and suffering all because they wanted to get an abortion that they were unable to get. In Norma’s case, it is unclear whether or not she was raped which would have caused her last pregnancy, however, Texas’s law stating that a women can not get an abortion unless it is at risk to the mother does not suit her needs. She should have been able to have an abortion if she wanted one for whatever reason it may be. Regardless of the scenario given, a women should have the right to control her own body and ultimately decide whether she wants to keep her baby or not.